Archive for iPad

Well, Steve did say that it would be revolutionary, and if you are going by sales alone, the iPad is living up to it’s master’s hype. On Friday, “just 28 days after its introduction,” Apple sold its millionth iPad. Of course, that isn’t all.

1.5 million ebooks have been downloaded to the device, along with 12 million apps. This in less than half the time it took to achieve the milestone with the original iPhone. And demand for the iPad continues to outstrip supply.

Looks like certain iPad apps are dramatically scaling back or even blocking the video altogether when on the 3G-ready iPad, according to some new owners. The YouTube app significantly degrades the quality of video, while ABC’s TV viewer doesn’t allow video at all unless via Wi-Fi. Only a few apps, such as Netflix, appear to work normally.

It was suspected that AT&T had demanded the limits, but an AT&T representative has denied the carrier’s involvement. Apparently the policies are so far self-imposed. ABC is allegedly prevented from streaming over 3G due to rights issues, while YouTube is most likely emulating the same bitrate scaling seen on the iPhone, with the larger screen size magnifying the drops in quality.

With Padracer your gaming console is an iPad as a display and iPhones as controllers. How cool is that? Though if you don’t already own these things, it could get a bit expensive for you. Basically the iPad is the race track and the iPhones are turned into controllers once connected via Bluetooth or Wi-Fi.

All you have to do is steer your race cars by turning an iPhone like a steering wheel. The game is just five bucks at the iTunes store.

The iPad has gone viral. Literally. PC-using iPad owners have been targeted with a new virus. This one is disguised as an iTunes update that offers better “performance, newer features and security”, but the download is actually malware designed to collect all of your sensitive personal information.

Identified by BitDefender as Backdoor.Bifrose.AADY, the piece of malicious code inadvertently downloaded injects itself into the explorer.exe process and opens up a backdoor that allows unauthorised access to and control over the affected system.

The iPad keyboard dock is nice, but one of the downsides is that you have to use the device in portrait mode, which might not be your favorite position, especially since everyone is used to their widescreen notebook.

Well, now you can use it in landscape mode by adding a dock extender cable, allowing you to attach the keyboard and still maintain the landscape orientation that you like. What do you think? Do you want to do this with your iPad?

If you are the queasy type, you best move on some of our other news. For those with stronger stomachs, the story goes like this: A very nice Denver-area man headed to a local Apple store to pick up an iPad for a colleague. It was a nice thing to do. He was being a good friend.

He doesn’t even get what all the fuss is about with the device. He was just doing a good deed. So he buys the iPad and curls the strings of the Apple bag around his hand as he heads for the exit. This is where the story turns sad. It was then that a pair of thieves yanked the bag, stealing the iPad and all of the flesh around his pinky finger as they ran away.

I know you’ve been waiting for your iPad 3G and if you’ve placed a pre-order for you’ll be happy to know that the iPad Wi-Fi + 3G model will arrive on April 30th.

If you like to get out and pick yours up at a brick-and-mortar Apple retail store, you can do just that on the same day starting at 5:00PM. In order to work over 3G, users need a data plan for an additional monthly fee. You can get 250MB/month service for $15 and an unlimited monthly service for $30.

Looks like Apple may have version 2.0 of the iPad in the works already, with sources claiming that development has already begun. And if you believe the rumors, the screen is about to get an OLED makeover.

OLED displays are more vibrant than the LCD panels currently in the iPad, but so far are too expensive to use cost-effectively in anything larger than a mobile phone. However, analysts are predicting that OLED prices will drop eventually, but not until at least 2011. If the iPad 2.0 was to have an OLED screen and be released with Apple’s traditional update schedule, it’s unlikely the prices would drop in time.

It wouldn’t be surprising to learn that iPads might be banned by schools because they distract students, but George Washington University and Princeton University have both banned them because their Wi-Fi networks are overloaded since the launch.

Bandwidth overload is a problem that affects us all. We feel bad for the students trying to access the internet to do schoolwork from their laptops, but can’t because of all the students with iPads who are watching Netflix. As it stands right now, Princeton University has blocked about 20 percent of iPads from being able to access the network, and apparently George Washington doesn’t support any Apple products.

Looks like Apple has updated its online store with a shipping date for the 3G version of the iPad. All versions of the tablet should be out by May 7th. That means that the iPad will fully out be out for American consumers three days ahead of the announcement of specific international availability.

That date relates to orders from here on out. Those in the UK and elsewhere might see the 3G and WiFi-only tablets coming out sometime around the end of May.

We’ve seen plenty of iPad clones, but Moonse’s new E-7001 tablet will sell for as little as 900 Chinese yuan (or about $130) if it is ever available. For that price you get a 7-inch touchscreen, a 600MHz Rockchip RK2808 processor (which might be upgraded to a Cortex-A8 before launch), Android 1.5, an SD card slot, built-in WiFi, and five hours of battery life.

It’s a bit thicker than an iPad, and supposedly weighs just 0.7 pounds, which is about half the iPad’s weight. There’s also a front-facing camera and a USB port.

You may love your new iPad and sleep with it at night like a soft Teddy Bear, but believe it or not, there are some people who don’t yet have one. The international market is still waiting. Now they have a bit longer to wait.

Citing “surprisingly strong US demand,” Apple has delayed the international launch of the iPad by one month. It’s strange that Apple wouldn’t realize that the demand would be so high.

This is the sort of thing that makes universes implode. We guess it had to happen eventually. What would Bill Gates think? It’s Windows 95 running in an x86 emulator according to the creator. Not the performance you were looking for in an iPad?

Still, seeing that screen brings back memories and you now know what an alternate-universe 1995 would have been like. Apple products running windows OSs. That’s either horrible or awesome depending on your view. Video below.

You spent $500 for your tablet already. You probably won’t mind another $410 to add some color to the exterior. That’s right, ColorWare is at it again, this time coloring your new iPad in whatever combination you can dream up.

You can make your own design, with separate colors for the back, logo, and home button, but no matter what you choose, there’s no getting around that hefty $400 service charge. It’s either that or you can pay $910 for a new, painted 16GB model. The 64GB model is $1110.

I know what you’re thinking. We already have a mini iPad in the iPod Touch. I hear ya. We’re just passing along the scuttlebutt. According to Digitimes a 5-7-inch iPad will be launching in 2011. Digitimes quoted senior analyst Mingchi Kuo, who himself works at Digitimes, as “citing talks with upstream component sources,” who have said the smaller iPad will measure between 5 – 7-inches, and will cost under $400 when it goes on sale early 2011.

It’s a funny idea best left on April 1st and quickly forgotten. Even though we know that way too many people would buy such a “Mini iPad” at that price.